Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Bank of New Hampshire

Bank of New Hampshire cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 22,397 shares of the company’s stock after selling 752 shares during the period. Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $131.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,331,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,280,573. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $126.34 and a 200 day moving average of $115.69. The company has a market capitalization of $332.26 billion, a PE ratio of 937.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.